Kellogg plans to move into new warehouse in Oklahoma City

Commercial Property Continues to Snap, Crackle and Pop

Kellogg Co., the cereal giant, is going against the grain with a new warehouse in north Oklahoma City.

Most users of industrial space here are staying put to sit out the national recession. Kellogg is headed for a 60,000-square-foot space at Interstate 35 and Hefner Road.

Kellogg, makers of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Froot Loops and scores of other breakfast and snack foods, is moving into Hefner Commerce Park amid a cluster of industrial buildings developed by Gardner-Tanenbaum Group. Capstone Construction Services is the builder.

Developer Richard Tanenbaum said the area's attractive features have kept his projects in demand since he started building them 10 years ago:

Easy access to major crossroads - I-35, Interstate 44 and Interstate 40 - in the center of the country. He still wonders why no one developed the 90 acres before he got to it.

Stephen Tanenbaum was the lead negotiator in the transaction, which also involved broker Gerald Gamble of Gerald L. Gamble Co. and Newport Real Estate Service in Newport Beach, Calif.

"Oklahoma City is fortunate in that it has not seen the mass exodus of industrial users causing increasing vacancies and decreasing rents. Owners are using other incentives instead of dropping rents," he wrote.

Gardner-Tanenbaum's asking rent for the 40,000 square feet next door to the Kellogg's space is $5 per square foot per year, which puts it at the top end of the market. But it's new space, in a desirable location, and Richard Tanenbaum said he was close to having it leased, as well.